Becoming Blaise
by ChocolateCoveredKisses
Summary: They say Gryffindors are brave, Ravenclaws are intelligent and that Hufflepuffs are loyal. But Blaise Zabini's story proves that these qualities are essential if one is to survive. Especially if you happen to be in Slytherin. Explore the journey a group of gifted teenagers embark on, as they struggle with life, death, drama and love.
1. Introduction

Pre GoF

Blaise's Story

As eleven year old Blaise Zabini made his way through the crowds to board the Hogwarts express, he did not hug his parents' goodbye, he did not kiss his mother and say he would miss her – he didn't even glance behind him. Now, though one may think this was the haughty, aristocratic, pureblood way of doing things, it was none of these, it was a dismissal, a relief to both parties, Blaise, to be away from his mother, and said mother to be shot of her offspring.

Searching the train for a seat was not an arduous task, as most students were still clinging to parents, and giving tearful farewells. He took the window seat and stared with wonder as other first years refused to let go of their mothers, some, he observed, crying quite openly in the bid to remain with their relatives. Blaise was shocked and somewhat confused at the blatant displays of affection and pondered what could grant such exhibits of love. Love was a myth in Blaise's eyes and all those who believed in it were fools.

The carriage door slid open and Draco Malfoy sat down in the seat opposite him. Blaise gave him the trademark smirk and they briefly discussed any parts of the holidays that the other one had not been there for. They had been friends for as long as Draco could remember, and Blaise thought back to what he could remember their first meeting to be;

*flashback*

"Draco! Draco darling, come and say hello to Blaise."

Four year old Blaise Zabini stood quietly next to his mother as a small blonde figure sped in to the room and jumped up into his mother's arms. "Draco" said his mother, Narcissa, "this is Ms Zabini and her son Blaise, he's come to play with you for the afternoon" she smiled at her son fondly and gently stroked his cheek. Blaise watched this with curiosity, he couldn't, in his wildest dreams, imagine running up to his mother like that, little own her being pleased with him for doing it, and showing some sign of love. Draco, having been set on his feet looked at Blaise with interest, stuck out his little hand and said "Hello, I'm Master Malfoy" his chin went up arrogantly "but you can call me Draco". Blaise grinned at him "and my name is Blaise Zabini" he said as they shook hands.

*end flashback*

Draco and Blaise sat peacefully saying nothing, as they tended do at times such as these, the silence didn't bother them, quite the opposite in fact. As they dwelled in their own thoughts the carriage door slid open again and two older boys entered. "Malfoy" one said and nodded in his direction "and – your friend" he said turning to Blaise, "Blaise Zabini" the eleven year old said smoothly and the two shook hands. "Marcus Flint" said the taller of the two visitors "and that's Adrian Pucey" he said nodding his head at the boy who stood two paces behind him. They had various company throughout the journey including two other first years, that Draco knew named Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson, Carter Warrington – a third year, a Gryffindor with the gift of the gab, named Angelina Johnson and a couple of nameless third year Ravenclaws. The boys had concluded that it was really of no consequence to learn names of students not from Slytherin house, as the possibility of them ending up in any other house was zero. As the train moved into the platform at Hogsmeade the sky had darkened and the temperature had dropped. So as they left the train they made sure their cloaks were tightly wrapped around themselves. Being first years they regrettably had to travel across to Hogwarts in small boats instead of the warmer and more comfortable, thestral driven carriages. They climbed, with a natural grace, into the boats and were followed in by a gangly sort of boy named Theodore Nott. The young purebloods were not impressed at the sight of Hogwarts castle, whereas many of their new classmates let out audible gasps. The castle was old, grey and not nearly as welcoming as had been expected. Blaise was even less impressed by the waiting around outside the great hall and shot disdainful glares at those who started and jumped when the ghosts appeared. He overheard a bushy haired brunette with slightly too large front teeth prattling on about needing to use spells for an initiation test before being sorted. "Clearly a mudblood" Draco muttered into his ear and Blaise silently agreed.

The great hall doors opened and Professor McGonagall led the, somewhat nervous, first years down the centre aisle, and came to stop in front of the ragged, old sorting hat. As the various names got read out Draco and Blaise exchanged knowing glances at all those sorted into Slytherin and looks of contempt and disgust at all those sorted into Hufflepuff. As Draco's name was called the swaggered up to the chair and the hat barely touched his head before it screamed "Slytherin!" He smirked at Blaise before turning and making his way over to his new house table. As Blaise continued to watch, knowing he'd be last, Millicent Bulstrode, Daphne Greengrass, Adrianne Selwyn and Pansy Parkinson became the new Slytherin girls, whilst Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Draco Malfoy, Sebastian Miller and Theodore Nott became the Slytherin boys. "Zabini Blaise" he recognised his name and advanced to the shabby hat, having had it placed on his head he waited no longer than a second before it screamed out "Slytherin!" he proceeded towards his new table amongst a mixture of cheers and hisses. He sat down next to Draco who squeezed his hand under the table and gave him a true smile. He grinned back broadly and then at all the other Slytherins satisfied smirks. He was home.


	2. Lets play Musical Beds

Three years on, and about to enter his fourth year at Hogwarts Blaise sat on the Hogwarts express surrounded by his fellow Slytherins. He had found his place here at Hogwarts, the place where he truly fit in, where he could be himself and not bother about his gold-digging mother, the problems of the wizarding world, or his own etiquette in public. Here at Hogwarts he had begun to feel something he had believed to be impossible, surrounded by a closely knit group of friends and admirers, though he did not yet recognise it, he had begun to feel love.

He sat conversing with the other fourth year Slytherins and a few others from different years. His charisma and charm had already gained him the respect of his house and even those in higher years looked up to him. He was extremely skilled with a wand, non-verbal magic, flying and perhaps most importantly; the art of manipulation. He controlled those around him with ease, he and Draco clearly being leaders of the group. The straggling Slytherin fourth year girls; Adrianne and Daphne arrived and seated themselves on Draco and Blaise's laps due to lack of other available seating.

"Hello darling" Blaise whispered into Daphne's ear breathing lightly on her neck, she smirked, unfazed by his games "alright love?" she said grinding her hips back into his. He hissed slightly and Draco smirked, watching the exchange, his arms loosely wrapped around Adrianne's waist. As the conversation moved to the world cup, they became more animated and as the train jerked violently and Pansy fell backwards onto Sebastian, who caught her but dropped his drink, spilling it over Greg and Millicent. Millie shrieked as the door slid open to reveal a bemused looking Adrian and Derrick. Blaise grinned in spite of himself as the observed the antics of his fellow housemates, god how he'd missed them.

The heavens opened just as the train arrived at the station and the Slytherins hurried to get the first carriages to be out of the rain. They successfully made it to the carriages and laughed just out of spite at the thought of the tiny first years struggling through the lake in the pouring rain. The journey did not drag as the Slytherins energetically discussed the Triwizard Tournament and what they anticipated it would hold.

"I'll bet you Potter tries to enter" said vivacious Pansy "and perhaps his pathetic sidekick, you'd think he'd get tired of being constantly overshadowed." "Nah" said Seb, "Weasley's way to chicken to try anything like that, he relies on the other two, without them he's completely lost." Blaise nodded his agreement. They arrived at the great hall and made their way over to the Slytherin table, avoiding Peeves throwing water balloons at unsuspecting students. The general chatter died down as McGonagall brought in the first years to begin the sorting and Blaise grinned as Draco's stomach growled angrily in protest. The few new Slytherins consisted of four new girls and five new boys, including Daphne's sister Astoria.

Blaise felt something tugging on his sleeve, and turned with a bemused look on his face, to see a petite, delicate girl looking at him,

"would you pass me that please?" she asked, pointing at one of the more adventurous looking dishes. He smiled at her; "sure" he said reaching over and giving her the bowl. She gave a small smile in return and begun to ladle food onto her plate. Blaise was intrigued by this small, dainty creature, having never seen her before he assumed she was a first year.

"What's your name darling?" he said to her curiously, "Bellemonte" she replied quietly, as though afraid she was getting the answer wrong, "Nicolette Bellemonte." "Well Nicolette my dear," Blaise began, putting on airs of a fond uncle talking to his favourite niece, "I have a feeling you and I are going to get on rather well" She gave him another small smile, but the warmth that filled her eyes as she nodded her head made Blaise realise. He realised that like so many before her, even like him in fact, she came from a broken pureblood home and craved affection and attention. He knew in that moment that it was going to be him that looked after this girl through her years at Hogwarts, he who would help her learn the ropes in the first few weeks, he who would be a shoulder to cry on and a friend to share with.

As they proceeded to the common room they angrily debated the newly realised fact that the Quidditch cup would not take place. The fact that the Triwizard Tournament was taking place was of no consequence, they had concluded, as they entered the common room. (Password – "ad gloriam", which is Latin meaning "for the glory") As a whole, they knew full well that no-one in Slytherin would enter the tournament; they all had much more sense, and were not fool enough to show their weaknesses to the entire school.

"So" said the extremely beautiful sixth year Cassandra Montague gliding up to Blaise and slipping an arm around his neck "good summer?" he smirked at her and turned to fully face her, encircling her waist with his arms, "wasn't so bad" he said nonchalantly "how about yours?" "Could've been better" she said seductively, and Blaise's' smirk widened as he took her by the hand and pulled her gently along to his dorm room. They both knew this was just to get them back into the feel of being at Hogwarts; it was always like this in the first few days. No-one stayed a virgin for very long in Slytherin. Blaise shoved her up against the wall and took control of her mouth, dominating the kiss instantly. As his tongue explored her mouth expertly she ground into him and he let out the first moan. Blaise moved his hands down to her skirt, ripping it off and running his hands over her warm, dripping centre, circling her clit knowledgeably with his thumb. She whimpered softly and pushed herself further into his fingers, and he smirked feeling her desperation. As Cassandra lost the last of her clothes she lay back on Blaise's bed and ran her hands over herself. Blaise immediately stepped out of his attire and crawled elegantly over to her. Blaise could pull off the graceful predator approach perfectly, and besides, he knew what Cassandra liked. He climbed on to the bed and exhaled in a sharp gust as he saw the lust positively rolling out of Cassandra's eyes. Plunging in quickly to the hilt it was her turn to exhale and her eyes rolled back into her head. Blaise was not gentle with Cassandra, and she appreciated him for that, preferring the rougher approach to soft and placid touches, he thrust in and out of her quickly, bringing them both to sweat in seconds. With her head thrown back in ecstasy Blaise could see her pulse beating furiously which he bit down on hard, causing her to scream out in pleasure. As he manipulated her breasts in his hands and tweaked her nipples, her hips bucked frantically and he quickly captured her mouth once more, muffling her scream as she came.

The next morning came around much sooner than most wanted, many still tired from activities carrying on late into the previous night. But Blaise always found this first morning fascinating, and when he awoke, moving carefully so as not to wake Cassandra, he sat up and gazed around the room at his roommates' beds, so as to discover who had ended up with whom. Looking first at Draco's bed he saw the blonde entangled around the tall, dark and handsome, fellow Slytherin Shale Selwyn. He grinned at their sleeping forms and glanced next at Theo's bed to see the unmistakeable short black bob, belonging to Pansy and then further under the duvet, the perfectly still form of fifth year Helena Rosier. Blaise's eyebrows quirked; 'how had Theo managed to bag two of them?!' he thought to himself 'and blonde bombshell Helena at that?!' it was not uncommon, in the Slytherin house to see three in bed together, it was merely surprising to Blaise that calm and withdrawn Theo should have chosen to do so. Moving his eyes to Vince's bed he was fairly sure it was third year Lois Yaxely that lay beside him and Blaise smirked to himself as he observed the developing contours of her body, subtle, but still visible under the thin duvet wrapped around her. He paid little attention to Greg's bed, knowing he would be wrapped around the dainty figure that was Millie. With a casual fleeting look into Sebastian's bed he saw a brunette mop, and was intrigued when he realised he didn't recognise it. Making a mental note to ask him later, he slid smoothly out of bed and padded towards the shower.

At around seven thirty Blaise exited the shower, dressed in his expensive, shaped to his lithe form, robes and made his way up to the great hall for some breakfast. He had his usual of toast and strawberry jam, and just as he had finished, the majority of his house had made it down to eat. Seb seated himself on his right and Adrianne on his left, and they waited as timetables were handed out. Blaise watched carefully as his mahogany haired, little Nicolette slid into a seat next to Astoria and shot him her small smile. He returned the smile, with a wink and turned to his friends.

"So" he said to Seb, as he poured himself some cornflakes, "who graced your bed with their presence last night then? I didn't recognise her". Sebastian grinned, "that my friend", he began in a superior manner, "was Cho Chang, pretty dang good too, can't think why I've never had her before". The rest of the table looked on incredulously when they heard these words, at the fact that Sebastian had successfully seduced Cedric Diggory's girlfriend of two years. "Yes" Seb continued, "She succumbed to the charms of moi." Blaise smirked as he absentmindedly gazed at the concealed, yet well defined, muscles he knew lay underneath Sebastian's clothes.

With a fleeting look at the newly recognised cheat that was Cho Change, he gave Snape a saucy wink as he was handed his timetable and sashayed eloquently out of the hall. Casual sex was completely normal in Slytherin house, but Blaise knew full well that other houses, especially the goody-two-shoes Ravenclaws weren't as open to it. He also knew that should her and Seb's fling ever be announced to the public, she would be renounced by her house and friends, Diggory would most likely turn his back on her and probably even the teachers would lose their respect for her, she would be branded a whore. This would come in handy as blackmail, should there ever be a cause for it. As Blaise meandered down the hall he bumped into a small red thing;

"god, watch where you're going dumbass" came the loud voice of what he now realised to be, the littlest Weasley. He grinned down at her malevolently. "I believe it was you who walked into me." He said in the superior air he always used for talking to blood-traitor scum such as her. She mumbled something unintelligible and stalked past him with her nose in the air, the same unfortunate trait that bushy-haired Granger seemed to possess.

By the time he'd drifted over to the Herbology greenhouses, a class the Slytherins shared with the Hufflepuffs, Seb and Daphne had caught up to him. "Hey hun" said Daphne, entwining her fingers with his, "you disappeared fast after breakfast". "Mmm, I suppose" Blaise replied non-committing, "where's Dray and the others?" "Probably still eating" said Seb with a grin, "I've never known anyone to eat as slowly as that boy does". "God, do you remember that time we were in that restaurant in France and he questioned everything on the menu, to that floozy waitress, before settling with the soup and then took about three hours to eat it!" Pansy said, appearing suddenly by Blaise's elbow. "Hah! Yeah" said Blaise with a laugh, "he really is an embarrassment sometimes!" "To whom do you refer?" said a slightly insulted voice behind them, and they turned to see Draco with his arms folded, Vincent, Adrianne, Millicent and Theo in tow. "No-one, love" said Blaise giving Draco a chaste kiss on the lips before pulling the Slytherins into greenhouse four.

Herbology was not Blaise's favourite subject, he found it neither challenging nor interesting but, as with most things, he could do it easily, and so he did not particularly mind the hours he had to spend in the greenhouses. Lessons with the Hufflepuffs did have their benefits, as they were all terrified of the Slytherins and so didn't even try to converse with them, even when placed in working groups with them. This satisfied the shrewd Slytherins, as they certainly did not wish to have anything to do with the petty Hufflepuffs, little own engage them in conversation.

"Have you any idea what the hell we're supposed to be doing with these plant things?" Seb asked Draco, "oh, good one genius" said Draco in a sarcastic tone, "plant things. After three years studying Herbology, you've learned that these are called 'plant things'. Everything in Herbology involves plants! Rather rudely phrased as well" he continued, putting on an air of eccentricity. "Did you mean 'excuse me good sir, but would you mind reminding me what exactly are we're supposed to be doing with these fine specimens of Bubotubers, per chance?" To which Sebastian gave him a critical look, elbowed him in the ribs and turned to Blaise for help. "calm down Grandma" said Draco pulling Seb back around to face him, still obviously in quite a good mood, "you just have to squeeze them and collect the pus in these jars". Seb quickly gave him a shared disgusted look and reached for his dragon hide gloves, not wanting to end up with a rash, burn, infection, or whatever else the undiluted pus could do to you. Blaise grinned at the pair of them and rolled his eyes, partly at Draco's oddly exuberant mood, and partly at Sebs blatant disregard for it.

As the Hufflepuffs threw themselves into the task, pleased at being able to complete this chore the Slytherins braced themselves and began the rather revolting task of squeezing the Bubotubers. The booming bell signifying the end of the lesson sounded and the Slytherins advanced to the edge of the forest, for their care of magical creatures' lesson. Blaise wouldn't really call it a lesson though, more of a pointless, somewhat strenuous task and proceeded towards it with great reluctance.

"On'y jus' hatched" they arrived to hear the great oaf announcing proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!" he signalled towards some horrid looking creatures in some crates which Blaise immediately assumed were dangerous illegal half-breeds. "And why would we want to raise them?" said Draco coldly. The stupid giant looked stumped at the question and simply stared dim-wittedly at Draco with his mouth open. "I mean, what do they do?" Dray continued, "What is the point of them?" the fool continued to open and close his mouth, apparently thinking hard, "tha's next lesson Malfoy, yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things – I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer – I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass-snake – just try 'em out with a bit of each." The Slytherins yet again exchanged disgusted looks and blatantly refused to feed things, which didn't even seem to have mouths, with various animals.

"Ouch!" yelled Dean Thomas, after about ten minutes. "It got me!" the 'Professor' blundered over to him looking anxious. "Its end exploded!" said Thomas angrily, showing the giant half-breed a burn on his hand. "Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said the oaf nodding. Blaise looked at Dray and shot him a disgruntled expression, which was directly returned. "Eurgh" said Lavender Brown. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?" "Ah, some of 'em have got stings," the half-breed said enthusiastically. "I reckon they're the males ... the females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies ... I think they might be ter suck blood." "Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Drake sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting and bite all at once?" the other Slytherins nodded, supporting his words, as Granger chipped in, - "just because they're not pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful" she snapped. "Dragon bloods amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet would you?"

Blaise smirked as the bucktoothed mudblood shouted at Draco, but he did not miss the sly exchange between Potter and Hagrid. He remembered all too well Draco trying to bring down the golden trio, when he'd discovered that the half brained dimwit owned a dragon. A dangerous Norwegian-Ridgeback he'd named Norbert. The lesson proceeded without further mishap, but still with the Slytherins refusing to even try and feed the 'Blast-ended-Skrewts'.


	3. For Blaise's Amusement

On his way to the great hall for dinner, Blaise was greeted by a rather keyed up Millicent.

"Have you heard?!" she said in an excitable voice, "Have you heard what happened to Draco?!" Blaise's eyebrow quirked with curiosity, "No" he said intrigued as to what could have caused Millie's animated mood, "do tell". She smirked and started to pull him towards the dungeons, "well, see" she started, "you know that article about the Weasleys that was in the prophet this morning?" Blaise nodded, a grin forming on his face, "well Dray was flashing it around and making a fool out of Weasley, and then Potter insulted Narcissa, making some derogatory remark, so Draco whips out his wand, about to curse him, when Moody turns up and turns him into a ferret!"

Blaise let out a raucous laugh at his friends misfortune, and picked up the pace, desperate to find Drake and immediately take the mickey. "Ahhh" said Blaise with a sigh; "this isn't going to drop for a while, is it? It's probably all round school already." "I suppose" said Millie, "but then Draco's never been that bothered about what people think has he, he can hold his own." "Yeah" said Blaise realising this was, in fact the case. Entering the common room Blaise walked casually over to Draco and where the other Slytherins stood,

"Hey Dray" he said, as casually and straight-faced as he could manage, "do you know why ferrets get frustrated when you dip your feet in milk?" Draco gave him a stony look and turned away, "because they're lack-toes intolerant!" Blaise continued with a scream of mirth, to which the other Slytherins groaned and Draco thumped him.

The day moved into the afternoon and Blaise found himself stood outside the room of the lesson he preferred most – Potions. Now, this was not just because Snape like his Slytherins and therefore favoured them greatly and allowed them to get away with murder, no, it was because Blaise actually had a passion for the subject, again it wasn't especially taxing, but more so than various other lessons, and it gave him a sense of pride when completing a potion, as he actually had something material to show for his time. Though they still had to endure the Gryffindors unhealthy presence, Snape made it much easier with his snide comments, and attempts to beat down Potter and Grangers achievements and confidence.

Their final lesson of the day was Defence against the Dark Arts and Blaise was mildly interested to see if the ex-Auror could teach him anything he didn't already know. Moving towards his normal back desk with Draco he observed the new decor of the classroom and wasn't really impressed by the array of dark detectors that scattered the room. He and Draco seated themselves, with Seb and Theo on the desk in front, and awaited the arrival of Professor Moody.

Again they shared this class with the Hufflepuffs, which already made the class a letdown, and now the Professor was late, lateness was something Blaise could simply not abide. The door banged open and the belated Moody arrived slamming the blinds shut on his way in, clearly what he thought was an impressive entrance. Admittedly some Hufflepuffs did start and jump backwards, but to be honest Blaise just thought it was pathetic. The lesson ensued with the Professor demonstrating the three unforgivable curses on three spiders in a jar, killing the last one, the Slytherins were not remotely impressed having seen all three curses firsthand and in many cases having had them performed on themselves. So with the little respect Blaise had had for the teacher now gone, he left the classroom, friends at his heels, and advanced to the common room.

The Slytherins were mostly well organised and used the time between lessons and Dinner to do any homework they might have, so as the evening could be used recreationally. So as the majority of the Slytherins sat peacefully finishing off homework, Blaise sat back, having just finished his only piece, in Potions, and watched people. It was a game he had innovatively dubbed 'people watching', and he often liked to play it in the common room, at times such as these.

His eyes first sought out Nicolette whom he observed had gathered herself into a small circle of first years, all of which were chattering away amicably, whilst she stood and simply listened to her new dorm mates. Blaise smiled to himself and looked fondly at his new little protégé. His eyes then wandered around the room and he saw other first years, not having had any homework, playing chess or gobstones with newfound friends, he saw second years trying to exercise newfound authority over the first years and failing miserably. He saw a few third years wrapped around each other and smirked as he thought about the flesh games.

He had played with a few Spanish pureblood witches he'd chanced upon in the holidays, two at once when he'd stayed in Barcelona. It was a kind of competition within the Slytherins, especially the guys, and so far Blaise was winning, Draco close at his heels. Blaise was extremely gifted in the art of seduction and it took him no longer than an hour maximum to charm someone into bed. The purebloods had no concerns over sleeping with men and women alike, and almost everyone had experimented with both sexes at some point in their life. Looking back over the common room Blaise saw Draco, sat on a sofa by himself struggling with a piece of work, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair, tendrils falling in front of his face, his crimson tongue shot out and licked his lips delicately as if he knew Blaise was watching and was intent on teasing him.

With his tie hanging loose, his top shirt buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up he was the epitome of sex, and Blaise went hard immediately. He slithered over and wrapped a hand in Draco's silver-blonde hair, tilting his head back to gain better access to kiss him. Catching on to Blaise's mood immediately Draco pulled Blaise down onto his lap, enfolding his waist with his arms. Blaise kissed the lips he knew so well sliding his tongue over Draco's lips, who granted him entrance straightaway. As the kiss deepened something nibbled Blaise's neck and he moaned opening one eye, to see Adrianne; teeth by his pulse. He threw one arm around her neck and Draco's hands moved up to cup her breasts. The three of them stood up and half ran to the boy's dorm room pulling off clothing en route.

"Mon dieu" Blaise moaned as he felt Anna slide down his leg unzipping his fly as she went. He shimmied out of the rest of his clothes and knew the others had done the same as three naked bodies collapsed onto Drakes bed. Blaise's erection became almost painful when he saw dainty Anna poised in-between his legs, her little pink tongue darted out and licked the tip of his shaft just as Draco recaptured his lips. As Anna continued to lick and tease him he took hold of her hair forcing her head further down, she complied with a smirk and took his length into her mouth. Blaise started to moan as he thrusted in and out of Anna's mouth, his hips bucking furiously and Draco trailed wet kisses down his chest moving over to Adrianne and beginning to kiss down her neck. As Blaise's thrusts became harder and faster his moans became louder and as he came into Anna's mouth he flung his arms up and swore heavily in French, the waves of pleasure continuing to roll over him.

Transferring his attention to the other two he switched positions with Anna and slipped his head in-between her legs, as Draco positioned himself behind her his hard tip at her back hole. Blaise licked around Anna refusing to touch her clit and she whimpered in frustration pulling at his black hair, Draco ran his hands up and down Anna's sides and over her breasts, instantly feeling her nipples go hard. Blaise ran his tongue over her clit and lapped up her juices as her moans became more audible, he licked her harder and more furiously, building her up, and pushed his tongue inside her as Draco thrusted into her from behind, causing her first scream, as they established a rhythm both Anna and Drake got louder and louder, Anna's nectar seeming to get sweeter. Draco was on the verge of orgasm and Blaise felt Anna's gentle form treble as she too approached climax. They both screamed Blaise's name as they came together and collapsed down on to the bed, the three of them slipped under the sheets, Draco in the middle. He wrapped an arm around Anna's waist as Blaise buried his head in the crook of Draco's neck and throwing his arms around them both. It had been a pretty damn good first day back, Blaise thought to himself, as he slipped into the welcoming realms of slumber.

A few days went by and Blaise found himself sat in the library at lunchtime with Seb and Pansy, frowning heavily as the three of them tried to make sense of a ridiculous piece of Trelawney's homework.

"Have you any idea what this crap is supposed to mean?" asked an irritated Pansy, pointing to a few bizarre charts of the positions of mars and Venus, "'cos I am completely lost". "well" said Seb, in an amused manner, "we're supposed to be making a diary of predictions for this coming month, using the calculations we made today, and our copies of 'unfogging the future', so you might want to be looking at your Divination notes, instead of your Astronomy ones". Blaise chuckled as a look of dawning came over Pansy's face, and she shoved her Astronomy notes out of the way. As they struggled to make up 30 days of miserable predictions, they noticed Granger dash speedily into the library, heading for a specific bookshelf, and frantically searching it. Blaise grinned evilly. "Aha", he said in a dubious sounding tone "duty calls" and he waltzed over to Hermione, Seb and Pansy grinning as he left.

"Well well, Miss Granger" he started with the air of an old uncle about to tell a story about the war, "what an odd occurrence it is to see you in the library." She spared him a disparaging look and continued to hunt through the bookshelf, "what book is the object of your quest, Miss Granger" Blaise continued with his airs and graces, "if I may be as bold as to ask". She raised an eyebrow before saying hurriedly, "thirteenth century Herbology". Blaise rolled his eyes obviously at her and his quick eyes scanned the shelf, spotting it immediately. With a triumphant grin he pulled it from the shelf and waved it tantalisingly yet somewhat immaturely in front of Granger. She turned and crossed her arms summoning her most critical glare. Blaise smiled at her and raised an eyebrow,

"was there something you wanted?" he said politely "don't be so petty" she said with the air of one speaking to someone with speech problems, "and just give me the book". Blaise grinned down at her and patted her head condescendingly, "you know what" he said as she slapped his hand away, "I don't think I will". He smiled patronisingly and began to walk away with the book under his arm, wandering how long it would take her to assault him for taking her precious book. The stinging hex that would have hit him moments later, had he not deftly blocked it, confirmed his expectations. He turned on the spot and quirked his eyebrow with a questioning glance at her.

"Did your mother never teach you it is polite to say please?" he asked patronisingly. He nearly laughed, ruining the facade, as she growled quietly to herself. "Please" she begun grudgingly, "please, can I have the book to finish my Herbology essay?" Blaise smiled condescendingly, "of course not Granger" he said, "if I gave it to you what would I use to complete my essay." Then he danced back to his table with the book, knowing his essay was already completed, and decided to leave the book somewhere for mudblood Granger to find.


	4. Beaxbatons and Durmstrang

It was Thursday, the day Beaxbatons and Durmstrang were scheduled to arrive, so as the Slytherins made their way to the entrance hall to view the influx, they briefly discussed the various methods of transportation that the French or Bulgarian students might use.

Beaxbatons was the first to arrive, in a large horse drawn chariot, magnificent in itself. As the steps descended the largest women Blaise had ever laid eyes on stepped out of the carriage. "Bloody hell" said Theo, stood next to him, their fingers intertwined, "half-giant, do you think?" "Yeah", Blaise replied inclining his head, "no wonder the carriage is so big; half of it's taken up with her massive form".

"Dumbly-dorr", said Madam Maxime, in a deep voice, "I 'ope I find you well?" "On excellent form, I thank you." said Dumbledore. "My pupils," said Madame Maxime waving one of her enormous hands behind her. Blaise leaned around Greg in front of him to curiously inspect the selection of French students. Blaise was well learned in the French language, culture and etiquette, having lived in France for a large portion of his life, and if he was honest, he missed the country. He missed the food there, he missed the much less Americanized culture and he missed hearing the language spoken fluently in his ear every day. Though most of his housemates spoke the language, it being of the utmost class and sophistication, it was not their first language, and Blaise was most keen to mix with the Beaxbatons students. He finished staring at the French students and filed away their attractive faces in his mind; he gave an elegant, raven haired beauty one last look and then switched his gaze over to the lake, where the rest of his school were pointing to.

"A boat." Said Draco, simply and unimpressed, "well they went all out didn't they" Blaise grinned at the sleek back of Draco's head and his typical rich pureblood manner. "C'mon" said Theo, pulling Blaise back into the castle and following the crowds to the great hall. The Slytherins made their way to their table and sat down, where they were shortly followed by the Durmstrang students. Seated between Pansy and a small girl he didn't know, Blaise smirked at the Durmstrang girls say opposite him.

"Hello then, my darlings" he said in his svelte and charming voice, "Hello" they chorused, evidently eager to mix with the foreigners, "what a pleasure to meet you". "The pleasure" said Blaise, reaching to kiss their hands, "is all mine". They giggled and Blaise smirked in reply, putty in his capable hands. He looked across the table and winked at Adrianna, who rolled her eyes in reply and turned her attention back to the Durmstrang boy, she was talking to. Blaise turned his attention to the boy Draco was talking to, which he now realised to be Victor Krum! "So, how was your journey?" he was asking, leaning forward to talk properly. The food appeared on the plates, much to the surprise of the Durmstrang students, and the students helped themselves, getting to know the visitors in the process. It transpired that the foreign students would be returning to the ship to sleep, and not sharing the dorms, something that disappointed most of the Slytherins.

As the students departed for their common rooms Blaise caught up with Nicolette.

"Hello sweetheart" he said, slipping his arm around her small waist, "and how have you been these past few days? Settled in well?" she jumped at his sudden presence, her eyes widening, then she saw it was Blaise and relaxed into him with the smile Blaise had grown to love. "Yes, I'm managing quite well" she said in her quiet, subdued voice, "my room-mates seem nice enough." "And how are you finding being away from home, away from your parents?" said Blaise watching closely for her reaction to the mention of her parents. It was as he had expected. She bit her lip and cringed into him slightly, "I think I would much rather be here" she said and looked up at him fearfully, as though she expected him to rebuke her for saying such a thing.

They arrived at the common room and Blaise pulled her down onto his lap in a large armchair, "that's fine darling" he hastened to reassure her, "I'm sure more than half the people in this room feel the same, me included." He carefully put his arms around her, not sure how she'd react to the close contact, and was relieved when she fell into him, resting her head on his chest. She was a tiny little thing, with thick mahogany hair falling to her waist, pale white skin, which contrasted brilliantly with Blaise's naturally tanned complexion, and deep Hazel eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Blaise quietly, "it's fine if you're not ready." She paused and looked him in the eyes, "not yet" she said practically silently, "I will, but not yet. I want the fact that I'm completely away from them to fully sink in." Blaise nodded and understood. He remembered how long it had taken him to talk to someone, about home, besides his childhood friend Draco. He sat with his arms loosely wrapped around Nicolette in front of the fire for some time, before glancing at his watch. Even though it was Saturday tomorrow, he decided it was late enough for Nicolette. "Nicky darling" he said nudging her from her drowsy state, "it's nearly eleven, I think you should go to bed now." She nodded and clambered off him, her long curls falling into her face. He brushed them off her forehead and she kissed him on the cheek, before dancing away to her dorm room. Blaise half smiled at the retreating figure, a new mystery to unravel, before shaking his own head and following suit, heading to his dormitory.

In the early hours of the morning, way before the sun had risen; Blaise was woken by a loud shout, as were several others in his dorm room. They didn't have to search far to discover the source of the noise, as one could not miss Draco thrashing around in bed once you were sat up. Blaise and Theo slid out of bed and gently nudged Draco awake, and out of his nightmare. This was, by no means, a rare occurrence, everyone in Slytherin had home or parent induced nightmares at some point, and their housemates were only too willing to comfort and console.

As Theo held Draco's hand tightly, rubbing small circles in his palm, Blaise sat Draco up and put his arms around him, pulling Draco into his chest. They remained in this position for a while until the tears had stopped falling down Draco's cheeks. Standing up to go back to his own bed Blaise felt a hand grab his wrist, and he turned to see Theo in the same position, "don't leave me alone" Said Draco quietly pulling the other two boys closer to him. They nodded understandingly and climbed in either side of Draco, their limbs quickly becoming entangled.

At sunrise Blaise awoke, he had always been an early riser, though the same could not be said for the two boys that lay next to him, and Blaise knew it would be him that woke them up in about five hours, at around half eleven. He smiled, none the less at their sleeping forms and slipped out of the bed, carefully detangling himself, so as not to awake his friends. As he showered Blaise thought. He thought about the tournament, he thought about his mother, he thought about Draco and he thought about Nicolette. He had heard the rumours that Carter Warrington had entered the tournament and he knew for a fact that these rumours weren't true, as he had said before; no Slytherin would be fool enough to take what was much less than a calculated risk. He wondered whether his mother was already plotting the murder of her most recent husband.

Blaise didn't particularly like Damon, but there was no reason for him to die, he barely knew the man, and suspected his mother knew him little more than he did and was merely taken in by the large fortune he possessed. And they, they were all fools. Fools not to see behind the seductive exterior that Jezebel Zabini presented. Fools not to realise the quick succession with which her past husbands had disappeared. And fools to let their guard down in front of the seemingly peaceful witch. She had been married to Blaise's father for the longest of her nine husbands and that only lasted for fifteen months. He hadn't known his father, him having 'mysteriously' disappeared only three months after Blaise was born. What with his flighty mother, this left Blaise in the care of more nanny's than he could count, over his early years, and none of them had presented the affectionate motherly approach that Blaise had so desperately craved, as a small child.

In fact the only adult with whom Blaise had been even slightly fond as a child, had been Narcissa. And to begin with, Draco had been most unwilling to share,

*flashback*

"No" five year old Blaise had said noncommittally, "I shan't be able to, mother wishes me to stay with nanny Prewett, whilst she attends Laurel Fawcett's debutante ball". Blaise continued to chatter quite amicably with Narcissa as, seated comfortably in her lap, he waited for Draco to come to play with him. Narcissa felt very much for this boy. This small child who would cuddle into you constantly, anxious for the attention he so desperately lacked at home. As she pulled him closer to her, her small blonde son hastened into the room. "Mother I "– he paused looking quite shocked at the sight of his friend perched on his mother's lap, and his small eyebrows furrowed. He crossed the room and climbed up to his mother, pushing Blaise onto the floor, "No" he said quite crossly, "you shall not have my mother." Blaise had no time to reply to Draco as Narcissa had stood up, placing Draco on the floor, her own eyebrows creased. "That's not very nice Draco" she rebuked him firmly, "You must never hurt your friends."

*end flashback*

That sentence had stuck with Blaise. As simply as Narcissa had said it never hurt your friends. This was now a sort of mantra of Blaise's and he stuck to it religiously. As lovely and calm and understanding as Narcissa was though, the same could not be said for Draco's father. Lucius was as different from his wife as it is possible to be. He is cruel, hot tempered and malicious. He was the reason his son slept so un-restfully, the reason why Blaise and Theo had lain soothingly with Draco to induce him into a calm dream-free sleep.

As he thought of untrustworthy adults, he thought of Nicolette's parents. He assumed they were the route of her troubles, and had every intention of finding out what exactly was going on in her house. He never liked to call people's houses homes. Home meant a place where you were cared for and loved. Home was a place where people had your back and encouraged and supported you. Home was not where you were forced to do things against your will, tortured if you didn't submit and raised to fear your elders. This was why his house was not his home, his home was at Hogwarts.

Exiting the shower Blaise headed down to the great hall, finding Adrianne in the common room, and hand in hand they proceeded to get something to eat.

"So who do you think it's going to be?" she asked Blaise, who immediately knew she was talking about the tournament champions. "Bet its some self-righteous Gryffindor" he replied, no doubt in his mind, "it's not like it's going to be a Hufflepuff, the Ravenclaws probably wouldn't risk it – they're too smart and none of us have entered." "True" she said thoughtfully, "very true."

As they glided effortlessly into the great hall, the Durmstrang students were already seated at their table and with a wink to Blaise Adrianne slid onto a handsome boys lap, crooning softly to him in his native tongue. Blaise smirked to himself and took his seat not noticing his small friend sat at his elbow. She noticed him first and tugged gently at his sleeve, smiling the way she always did, and pulling her onto his lap they conversed quietly, Blaise knew she wanted no outside attention.

"And how are you this morning little one?" he said tucking one long strand of her rich, dark hair behind her ear. "I trust you slept well?" "As well as ever I will" she said softly, leaving Blaise in no doubt as to the fact she was still having nightmares. "It'll get better sweetie, I promise" Blaise said sincerely hugging her small frame to him, "and in the meantime, come find me at night if you have trouble with sleeping properly." She lifted her large eyes to look at him and nodded gratefully, "okay then, thanks Blaise" she said, then she smirked, "expect me in your bed most nights" and with her hand lingering slightly to long on his thigh and with a kiss on his cheek she grabbed a piece of toast and relaxed back into his chest. Blaise smirked back at the dainty child perched on his lap and smiled at her thoroughly Slytherin behaviour.

As Blaise and Nicolette continued to eat and converse a few more of their dorm mates entered the dining room. A couple of small first year boys Blaise didn't know nodded politely at Nicolette and sat down opposite them, whilst Sebastian came in, leading a pretty third year, Janette Dawson, by the hand. Grinning at Blaise he sat down beside him and pulled Janette down next to him. She smiled devilishly and spared no glance for any of her housemates, her eyes locked fiercely on the ground.

"Look up" Seb said to her sharply, "greet your housemates." She looked up and stared deeply into Sebastian's eyes before turning around to exchange pleasantries with her friends and acquaintances. Blaise smirked again as he observed the dominant/submissive relationship that Janette and Sebastian had engaged in. Janette worked best in these situations as several others did, gaining security and comfort from the safe refuge these relationships harboured and the Slytherin boys knew only too well how to play their part, having been raised in strict homes with old fashioned morals. These morals and values may seem out of place or somewhat sexist to any from another house, but to the Slytherins this was normal, how they lived and how they functioned best. As he finished his breakfast quietly, Nicolette still clasped to him the hall slowly filled up, and when Blaise exited the hall at around nine, most of his houses had assembled.

"What are your plans for today then sweetheart?" Blaise asked Nicolette as they made their way back to the common room, "any plans with friends?" "No, not really" she replied absentmindedly, "I was probably just going to find Astoria." "You mean your going to abandon you new best friend Blaise?" Blaise said in mock indignation, "to go and hang around some ignorant first year!?" Nicolette looked up at him with her wide, fearful eyes, "well, n-no" she stuttered anxiously, "n-no, not if you"- Blaise quickly cut her off, sensing the danger, "I'm joking darling" he said jovially stroking her hair, "you do what you like baby girl, I'm not stopping you from seeing friends." He smiled fondly at her reassured face and hugged her to him, pulling her down onto the large armchair. "She wasn't at breakfast" Blaise picked up the conversation, referring to Astoria,

"so she's probably not up yet, in which case she'll walk through the common room in a while and we'll see her." Nicolette nodded cheerfully, "Oui" she said quietly, leaning back against Blaise "bon." "Parlez vous Francais, ma cheri?" Blaise asked intrigued, light dancing in his eyes, "Oui" she replied turning to look at him, "ma mere est Francais." Blaise smiled properly at her, loving her more by the second. As they continued to converse in French many of their dorm mates emerged, including Pansy and Theo, whom Blaise greeted amicably,

"this is Nicolette Bellemonte" he said indicating the small child still seated on his lap, "She's half French" Blaise said keenly, still pleased by this new discovery. "Hello" Pansy greeted her, all three of them noting how she recoiled slightly into Blaise as this new older being addressed her, "I hope your settling in well." "Quite well, thank you" Nicolette replied in barely more than a whisper, turning her head to avoid making eye contact with the newcomers. Blaise's eyebrows creased slightly as he watched her quake under the attention from her elder peers. "Why don't you run up and see if Astoria's awake yet?" he said to Nicolette gently, rescuing her, "she should be up by now." Nicolette nodded gratefully and hopped of his lap making a beeline for the first year girl's dormitory.

The three fourth years gave her one last searching look as Blaise changed the subject, "speaking of people that should be awake by now" he smirked at the others, "Mr Malfoy has had a long enough lie-in" Pansy rolled her eyes as Theo smirked back, "yes" he said nodding, "it's only right that we wake him" Pansy rolled her eyes again and sat down as Theo and Blaise sped off to their dorm. "Quietly does it" Blaise said calmly as they entered the room and slipped over to Draco's bed "wakey wakey, sleepy head!" Blaise bellowed with all his might as he leapt on to Draco's bed, straddling his waist, "time to get up now!" Draco's eyes shot open in shock as he tried to shake off the lump on top of him. However as he registered it was Blaise he shut his eyes again and mumbled something incoherent, that ended with something sounding an awful lot like "fck off".

"That's not very nice Draco" Blaise persisted shaking his head mockingly, "you're not very nice" Draco muttered, attempting again to dislodge him. Blaise tutted loudly to no-one in particular and leant down to nibble Draco's ear, "I can be very nice when I want to be" he hissed into his ear, "You just have to know what buttons to push". He felt Draco squirm slightly under him and pressed down harder trailing wet kisses over his jaw line. Draco moaned quietly under him and put his arms around Blaise's neck, pulling him closer. "No, no, no" Blaise said quickly moving back from Draco, "you're to tired for that" He pressed one last kiss on the corner of Draco's mouth before hopping off him and moving to sit on his own bed. As he expected Draco followed smoothly, catching Blaise's wrist as he went, "No" Blaise said simply, "you need a shower" and he shoved him forward in the direction of the bathroom. "Must I shower by myself?" Draco questioned his bottom lip jutting out slightly.

"I'd be quicker if I had someone to help me" Blaise shook his head and smirked at Draco, "No, but I might wait for you downstairs, if you hurry up" he winked coyly and Draco kissed him fully on the mouth before moving into the bathroom for a long delayed shower. Theo rolled his eyes from where he had seated himself on his bed, watching the behaviour of his room mates. Blaise smirked at him and headed down the stairs to wait in the common room, only to be run into by a sobbing Daphne.

"Sorry" she mumbled before side stepping him and attempting to leave. "I don't think so" Blaise said gently, taking Daphne's wrist and pulling her into a hug, "come here". Blaise half carried, half dragged Daphne into his dorm and sat down on his bed, pulling Daphne down on to his lap. Theo looked up as they entered and hastened over to them sitting next to Blaise and taking Daphne's hand, rubbing circles into her palm. The three just sat for a while, Blaise rocking Daphne slightly as she cried her heart out. "What's wrong sweetheart" Theo asked gently as her sobs started to subside, "tell us what's wrong" Daphne moaned slightly as she reached into her robes and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, thrusting it at Blaise and Theo. They recognised it as a letter from her mother and began to silently read.

A minor cliffhanger :) also, i dont know if anyones actually reading this story, so some reviews would be great! pretty please x


	5. And So It Begins

_Dear darling Daphne,_

_It is with great regret that I write this news to you, and I pray you will stay strong for yourself and your sister, whom you must inform as soon as you finish reading. We have fallen from grace. Your father was taken yesterday evening upon his refusal to join up to the deatheaters to assist the Dark Lords revival. Warn those closest to you, but refrain from letting peers in other houses or adults aware of this revelation, it would do no good to have us at the root of rumours of the Dark Lords existence. _

_We have no idea your father remains alive and if truth be told, it looks extremely doubtful. We have been told the papers are bound to speak of his kidnapping/murder, but you needed to hear it from me first. I must again impress upon you the importance of not losing your nerve and keeping your wits about you. Stay strong for me sweetheart, _

_All my love, Mother._

Blaise and Theo finished reading as Draco exited the shower and they closed their eyes, silently taking in the horrific news. Blaise clasped Daphne closer to him as she whimpered quietly and he shook his head at Draco when he opened his mouth to speak, holding the letter out to him as he came closer. He watched as Draco quickly read the letter before sinking onto the floor and resting his head against Theo's legs, Theo reached out with his spare hand and gently stroked Draco's platinum blond mop as the door opened expelling Pansy and Adrianne in the threshold, who paused only slightly at their four peers so tightly knit.

As they came to stand closer Draco handed them the letter which they quickly scanned, before Pansy sank down next to Draco on the floor and Adrianne reached out to stroke Daphne's hair, pulling the girls head into her chest. The group stayed silently in this position for a while before Draco spoke quietly,

"you need to tell Astoria, sweetheart" Daphne shivered, but nodded slowly, "yeah, I know" she paused, "she's going to be worse than me, she was always daddy's girl". She sighed deeply and then her face went completely smooth, all emotion vanished, "I'll go now" she looked round at them all, "come with me" she said softly. They nodded as she climbed off Blaise's lap and took his hand. Adrianne took her other and they exited the dorm, spotting Astoria in a corner with Nicolette and another first year girl named, Victoria Prewett. "Astoria" Daphne got her sisters attention,

"we need to talk, I've got some bad news darling". Astoria stood and hastened over to her sister, fear and panic already in her eyes. Nicolette walked over with Astoria and stood next to Blaise, tucking her small hand into his larger one. "What is it" Astoria asked, her quiet voice harbouring the dread in her eyes. "Tell me now! What's happened?" Daphne shoved the letter at Astoria and closed her eyes, waiting for the shrieks to begin.

Her sister didn't disappoint and Daphne went to her pulling her tightly to her chest, as the whole common room stared openly at them. Blaise, sensing the danger, let go of Nicolette and picked up Astoria, grabbing at Daphne, taking them back to the dormitory. He glanced behind him briefly to see Pansy take Nicolette's hand and pull her along with them. As they arrived back in the dormitory Blaise sat Astoria and Daphne down on the nearest bed and hastened the others out of the room,

"No, we'll leave them alone for a while, they need to be alone with each other". The others nodded and walked slowly back to the common room, amid stares and whispers from fellow housemates. "What's going on" seventh year prefect Christina Miller accosted them, "you all look like death". Draco grabbed at the abandoned letter on the table and thrust it at Christina. Her reaction was predictable and so with a slight scream she sat down, "he's back?" she said falling over the words, "he's fcking back?" "Gaining power" Theo replied in barely more than a whisper, "so not quite, but he will be very soon" Christina closed her eyes and fell back into the sofa, her lips moving wordlessly. The rest of the group sat around her in silence, all worrying over the same things.

"Chrissie?" her fellow seventh year, Anton Gregorovitch, entered the common room, "Christina, what's happening?" Christina stayed where she was; eyes closed, and spoke for the entire common room to hear, "he's coming back" she hissed, "The Dark Lord is coming back". As expected the room erupted in chaos, younger students began to shriek, students fell over each other running around in panic and tears fell down the cheeks of first years. Christina's eyes snapped open suddenly and she stood majestically, "silence". She demanded summoning her authority, and silence fell. "I know this is a shock"- "a shock!" a third year interrupted, "It's a bloody-" Christina turned to look at him and he was silenced with a glance from her unfathomable eyes.

"A shock", Christina repeated "And one which will impact everyone one of and our families. The Dark Lord is gaining power and recruiting, two in our midst have suffered at his hands already, and it is now time for you all to make a choice, a choice of where your loyalties lie." The room was now in a deadly silence and so Christina continued on,

"This is a great test to all of us and I must impress upon you the importance of the decision you all make, whether you will turn to the Dark Lord, for gain or fear of loss, or stay with your loved ones." Blaise reached out for Nicolette and she willingly went to him, putting her small arms round his neck, Pansy collapsed onto Draco and Theo, who were already seated on the floor, Adrianne leaned into Anton who put an arm around her waist, Sebastian pulled up Janette's chin to look him fully in the eyes, grasping her tightly to him and Christina sank back onto the sofa beside Blaise resting her head on his shoulder as he slipped an arm around her.

The first years seemed smaller than ever as they turned to the older students for comfort and the older years felt helpless as they tried to convincingly reassure the children, their own minds still full of doubt and confusion. The Slytherins, as a whole, were not opposed to the haughty, malicious exterior they were judged by, their house had, after all, produced more dark wizards than all the other houses put together, but they were not supporters of the Dark Lord, nor his actions. They had no intention of worshipping and taking orders from a mere half-blood. The generation of Slytherins now at Hogwarts had been raised by parents who feared and/or supported the Dark Lord, which was perhaps why they were the most tightly knit group of students within the walls of Hogwarts.

The Gryffindors liked to think they were the bravest and closest group of students, the Hufflepuffs liked to think themselves the loving ones, the ones most like a family and the Ravenclaws prided themselves on relations, but they were nothing compared to the way the Slytherins worked. The house worked like a pack, forming relationships that would last forever and working in blissful harmony under leadership. Whichever groups they moulded themselves into, there would always be one to take the lead and guide them.

As Blaise considered these facts the two Greengrass sisters made their way back into the room, Daphne threw herself at Sebastian and Janette who pulled her closer to them and whispered half attempts at reassurances into her ear. Astoria stood silently at the side of the group, with tears still pouring down her elfin face, until Draco took her hand and tugged her gently down onto his lap, stroking her cheek and kissing her hair.

Suddenly the common room door opened and Snape entered looking more than a trifle confused as to why none of his house had bothered to turn up for lunch. A nervous looking fifth year gently took Daphne's letter and handed it to Snape who scanned it quickly, taking in the broken forms of the Greengrass siblings.

"Dumbledore must be informed" he mumbled as he half fell out of the common room turning quickly. "No, no, no" Daphne repeated to herself, "this is exactly what we don't need", Blaise nodded his agreement and stood quickly, pulling Christina with him. "We can't let him" Blaise said strongly, "c'mon Chrissie" she nodded briskly, her head girl instincts kicking in, before she grabbed Blaise's hand and they chased after Snape out of the common room. "Professor" Christina shouted down the corridor, "Sir, you can't tell him" Snape whipped around seemingly already in frenzy, "Gosh, what was I thinking?" he said, sarcasm frothing at the mouth, "how silly of me! I forgot you were quite capable of tackling an army of deatheaters and the Dark Lord himself, singlehandedly, I must not have been thinking properly when I proposed to inform one of the greatest minds of the decade!" he ended in a shout and Blaise wondered what he was quite so worked up about and it perhaps wasn't just the return of the Dark Lord that had him stressed, after all, Blaise knew what lay under the left sleeve of his favourite potions master, this man learned the art of secrets and lies under the two greatest minds of the decade and he could play either side as well as he pleased, he would not suffer as others would.

"Sir" Blaise almost hissed the word as he reached out to the man, "Sir think of the implications, think of the accusations that will be made, think of the delegations". Snape turned to look at Blaise but did not slow his pace in his quest to reach the headmasters office.

"I think all of what you just said will be made ten times worse if Dumbledore is not informed immediately Zabini" Snape replied coldly and Blaise paused, that was the first time out of class that Snape had called him by his last name. "Sir, think of the Greengrasses" Blaise implored him. "I am thinking of them!" Snape whirled around to shout at Blaise, "You must now how much danger they are in now their father has been taken, their mother as well, she needs protection!" "Well at least wait a week Sir" Christina interrupted, "let the girls get their heads round it first, they need time, before all the publicity and questions, the ministry can't know of this." "The ministry!" Snape rounded on her, "how stupid do you think I am?" Snape sighed, "the ministry wouldn't believe it anyway" he continued, "Or wouldn't print it, Fudge is determined to keep things running smoothly, if he doesn't admit it to himself then the problem doesn't exist."

They all exchanged glances. "Look" he said, calming down as they reached the spiral staircase, "I'm sorry, but Dumbledore has to be informed, it won't go any further than that, but he has a right to know about the welfare of his students." Christina gave a sigh, the battle was lost, "Yes Sir, sorry Sir" she admitted defeat, "Blaise and I'll inform the sisters and you could floo Mrs Greengrass this evening" Snape half smiled as she handed out orders, but inclined his head as he made his way up to the headmasters office. As soon as he was out of sight Christina turned, taking Blaise again by the hand and hurrying them back to the common room.

"We need to keep them calm" Christina said softly, perhaps to herself more than to Blaise, "we need them to keep up the reputation our house presents, standards must not slip." Blaise nodded his agreement and squeezed her hand gently, "It's the first years we need to worry about, especially the Prewett girl, you know what her family's like," he said thoughtfully, "they can't be allowed to write to parents, or tell others in other houses about this. It must stay with us for the while." "Yes" Christina agreed with him, "the damage would be colossal if the whole school new, or if it got to the papers that were more likely to print it than the prophet is."

They arrived at the common room and quickly briefed the rest of their house about keeping quiet on the recent news and putting on a brave face for the rest of the school, they had a reputation to uphold. Blaise took Victoria aside separately,

"listen" he started, "I know your close to your family and I know you just listened to what Chrissie said about sticking with those you love and keeping close to people, but you must know that you most of all can't afford to tell your family, if your Aunt or those cousins of yours were to find out, we would be ruined." He stared sombrely at the small child before him, "the Weasleys are no family of mine." She said just as sincerely as he had been, "we don't associate with blood traitors. Daddy cut them off long ago, when Auntie married that muggle loving fool." Blaise smiled at the blossoming Slytherin child, "good girl" he said stroking her cheek, not in the least condescending, "you run along now then, go find Astoria, see how she's doing."

He watched the redheaded Prewett walk away to find her grieving friend and he thought. She was not entirely dissimilar to her cousins, she had the red hair and was certainly hot headed enough, but for entirely different reasons and her attitude lacked the arrogant manner her misfortunate cousins' possessed. She was as pale as any a Weasley there was, but her cheeks were free of the splash of freckles that adorned the faces of the Weasley brood and her features much less pronounced. He felt sorry for families like the Prewetts, upstanding pureblood families. But these families were tainted. Tainted with muggle blood, or muggle loving worshippers, he wasn't entirely sure which one was worse. The Prewetts slipped slightly from grace when naive little Molly Prewett was sorted into Gryffindor and even more so, when she married the outspoken blood traitor Arthur Weasley.

Blood was important to all those, bar a few anomalies, who had been raised in pureblood homes and Blaise was no different. Blood was a means to wealth and riches. Blood was a means to power. The sorting hat was not wrong when it said those in Slytherin were power hungry, no; the ones that were wrong were those who misinterpreted their motives and means for gaining power. Blaise had high hopes for himself in the future and was determined to keep up the family name by achieving success in the wizarding world, he was also determined to keep it unblemished, by doing what he and his family expected and marrying a pureblood and having sons with her. Sons would ensure the family name would not die with him, sons could only bring him more power. Blaise Zabini had no doubts as to what was expected of him.

Reviews please :) I'm also really sorry if my spelling and/or grammer is abit messy :S x


	6. Draco and Blaise

As he dwelled in his thoughts he glanced at his watch and stood. It was time to eat in the great hall and discover which fools were to take part in the tournament. He walked by himself still lost in his own thoughts, but sat down in between Sebastian and Millicent, pretending to listen to their conversation.

They were again discussing the tournament and Blaise wasn't sure whether this was because of the events drawing near or merely a distraction from the evening's news and as he watched his sombre house talk dejectedly, he deduced it was most likely the second option. He noticed people from other houses stood up, craning their necks to see if Dumbledore had finished eating and many cheered when he stood up and cleared his throat,

"the moment has come" said Dumbledore, smiling at the sea of students. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket just to clarify the procedure which we will be following this year. But firstly, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports." There was a smattering of applause for the ministry officials and then Dumbledore continued,

"Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on the panel which will judge the champions efforts." Sebastian nudged Blaise slightly resting his head on his shoulder and sighing, contrasting brilliantly with the rest of the hall who stilled instantly when the word 'champions' was mentioned. Dumbledore smiled round at his students and motioned to the caretaker,

"the casket, then, if you please, Mr Filch." He approached Dumbledore carrying an old wooden chest encrusted with Rubies and Emeralds. The first years looked at it excitedly, some standing up to get a better view. "The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr Crouch and Mr Bagman, "said Dumbledore, as Filch placed the casket on the table, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways ... their magical prowess – their daring – their powers of deduction – and, of course, their ability to cope with danger." Blaise shook his head and glanced round at the other houses, all of whom were gazing raptly at Dumbledore.

"As you know, three champions compete in the Tournament," the headmaster continued, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the Champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector ... the Goblet of Fire."

As Dumbledore opened the casket and extracted a large wooden cup, Blaise recognised the blue-white flames glimmering in the cup, fyre. There were many different kinds of fyre, most too dangerous to be used in everyday life, and several unknown to even the best educated of wizards. One of the most well-known deadly ones was fiendfyre which Blaise knew to have many powers – having discovered several books about it buried deep in his library back at home, books he was certain would not be permitted at Hogwarts.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as a champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment, and drop it into the Goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the Goblet will return the names of the three it as judged most worthy to represent their schools. The Goblet will be placed in the Entrance Hall tonight where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete. To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an age-line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the Entrance Hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."

Blaise scoffed as he watched the faces of the younger Gryffindors fall and turn furiously to complain to nearby companions - as if there was any remote chance a thirteen year old could face the tasks of the tournament.

"Finally," Dumbledore started up again, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this Tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the Goblet constitutes a binding magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are whole-heartedly prepared to play, before you drop your name into the Goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all." The Slytherin table watched as the Greengrasses stood up almost instantly and sped out and away from the hall, determined to get back to the common room. Sebastian sighed again and stood up, pulling Blaise with him.

"C'mon" he said, tugging Blaise's robes, "lets hurry back, I want to see how Daphne's doing." Blaise nodded his agreement and entwined his fingers with Sebs following after the Greengrass sisters, the rest of their house following not far behind. They arrived back just before their house spilled into the room and their eyes scanned the common room quickly looking for the girls. Blaise left Seb in the common room and headed towards Daphne's dorm room, bumping into Pansy on the way,

"hey hun" she said softly, looking at him properly, "looking for Daphne?" Blaise inclined his head, "yeah, "he sighed, "just thought I'd check on her and Astoria before they go to bed." Pansy smiled half-heartedly and nodded, before sitting down in front of the fire and curling up. Blaise smiled fondly at her foetal form and then turned to the fourth year girls' dormitory, knocking on the door.

"Come in" came a voice from inside, so he opened the door to find Adrianne and Millicent sat on one of the beds, but no Daphne, "You seen Daphne?" he asked glancing round the room, in case he'd missed her, "nope" Millicent shook her head and gave Blaise and apologetic glance, "we've not seen her since she legged it from dinner, we assumed she'd be with either you or Dray." "Nah" Blaise shrugged dejectedly, he tsked and turned to leave, "never mind then" he headed out the door, off to find Astoria. Crossing through the emptying common room to get to the first years' dorm he saw Seb and Draco on the couch near the fire behind Pansy, conversing in low tones and making a mental note go and join them as soon as he'd found the sisters. Knocking twice on the mahogany door he opened it and looked around. Victoria was sat on one of the beds next to another girl, with short blonde hair, whom he knew only as 'Donovan',

"either of you girls seen Astoria?" he asked gently, "only I can't find her sister either" Victoria smiled and pointed at the bed on the end, furthest away from him. "Over there" she said, "with Nicky." Blaise looked and sure enough was Astoria and Nicolette wrapped together, flat out in the end bed. He smiled fondly at them and at the thought that Nicolette had made close friends so quickly. He turned back to Victoria and her friend, "well, thanks" he said, "if and when they wake up, would you tell them I looked in?" Donovan nodded and Victoria said Nicolette would probably come and find him anyway, which he readily agreed with. He headed back into the common room and over to the sofa. Flopping down next to Draco he turned and fell back, lying with his head in Draco's lap, he closed his eyes.

"Well, "he started, "Astoria's asleep in her dorm, but no sign of Daphne." Pansy uncurled herself to look at him, "She probably just needs some alone time" she said knowledgably, "she'll turn up when she wants to." The boys nodded their agreement and Draco brushed Blaise's fringe off his forehead and ran his finger down his cheek, "it's horrible" he said simply, "horrible."

"And it's only the beginning" Seb said quietly, "it's only going to get worse." The group accepted this terrifying truth and Pansy moved onto Seb's lap, from the floor and tucked herself into his arms. He kissed the top of her head and the group sighed collectively, thinking to themselves. "I think I'm going to head off" said Draco, looking at his watch, "I'll see you guys tomorrow". "Yeah, me too" said Blaise sitting up and pulling Draco with him, "night guys," Pansy blew him a kiss, "night" she said "sleep well." Draco gave her a half smile and they headed to their dormitory. "I hope Daphne's feeling a bit better, wherever she is," Draco voiced, "I'd hate to think of her crying to herself in some poky corridor or classroom."

"Yeah" Blaise's eyebrows creased and he turned back slightly, "We should go and look for her." Draco nodded, "I'll just get my cloak" he opened their door and they slipped into the room. Blaise glanced over at his bed and then smiled, nudging Draco, "No need mate, found her." Draco followed Blaise's eyes and half laughed at the sight of Daphne, still fully clothed, collapsed on Blaise's bed. They moved to their respective beds and Blaise gently pulled of Daphne's shoes and socks. She opened one bleary eye and looked at him, "sorry" she said in a whisper, "I just needed to be with someone tonight."

"That's fine babe," he whispered back to her, "we were about to send out a search party for you." She grinned at him moved to sit up, he threw a large t-shirt at her, which she caught and smiled again. She pulled the rest of her clothes off and slipped the baggy t-shirt over her head, sliding back into the bed as he did so, on the other side. She cuddled into him and closed her eyes again feeling slightly odd wearing nothing but his shirt. He wrapped both his arms around her and whispered into her ear, soothing her until he heard her breathing change to deep slow breaths.

Next morning came around much quicker than Blaise expected, considering everything he had been thinking about. Daphne was still asleep so he moved carefully around her and took his usual shower. He tried to think about something that made him happy, rather than the somewhat depressing news they'd received the previous day. His friends made him happy he decided, his best friend made him very happy.

*flashback*

_"Pass me that Blaise?" 10 year old demanded Draco pointing at the book that lay on the floor beside Blaise, he handed it over and Draco snatched it from him quickly and turned away. Blaise's eyebrow quirked at his friends' odd behaviour, he'd been acting off with him all day. _

_ "What's got your wand in a knot?" he asked him, trying to lighten the mood, "what's wrong?" Draco turned and glared at him, "you," he said savagely, "you're what's wrong." Blaise opened his mouth in surprise, Draco had never been like this with him before, sure, he snapped at him sometimes, but he never accused Blaise of being the root of his problems. "What did I do?" Blaise questioned timidly, not wanting to anger him anymore. Draco turned away from him and sneered moving to the other side of the room as far away from Blaise as he could get. He looked at the window and Blaise saw his face fall and his eyes close slightly, he spun to look at Blaise _

_ "I don't want you here anymore!" Draco hurled at his friend suddenly, "Get out of my house!" Blaise stared at Draco in shock and stood up, not knowing what to say, "Draco what-" he started, but was cut off "OUT" Draco shouted at Blaise, "I don't need you anymore, I don't want you anymore..." Blaise spared Draco no more looks and spun on his heel, running down the corridor and the main staircase, "Blaise dear-" came Narcissa's alarmed tone, but he ignored her and ran out into the garden, going down to the large oak tree at the bottom and climbing it immediately. _

_As soon as he'd climbed as far as he could go a tear slipped out the corner of his eye and he brushed it away quickly, just in case anyone might see. He was confused and bitterly upset as to why Draco had shouted at him and brushed him off so casually. But the more he thought the more upset he seemed to become, so he stopped. He climbed down from the tree and walked over to the small stream, sitting on a small rock and dangling his feet into the cool water. He thought of all the times he'd been here before, plenty of times, but he'd never been down here by himself – no, always with Draco._

_But as he thought, he saw a blonde figure speeding his way, he stood up, preparing himself for another attack from Draco as to why he'd not vacated the grounds. But as Draco got closer he saw a large gash down the side of his friends face, he's brow furrowed as Draco got even closer and it became more prominent. Throwing himself at Blaise he threw his arms around him and burrowed his head into the crook of his neck. Blaise was thoroughly taken aback but hugged his friend all the same and eyed his wound. Draco pulled back from him looked at Blaise, then he leaned forward and pressed his lips fiercely to his friends. Blaise was so surprised he gasped and nearly fell in the stream and Draco grabbed him as he teetered backwards, his words coming out in a rush, _

_ "I'msorryIwasanidiotpleasedon'tleaveIpromiseI'llnevershoutatyouagainI'msorryBlaise." Blaise smiled at him, forgiving his friend easily, and then frowned suddenly, his eyes on the deep gash on Draco's cheek. _

_ "What happened, Dray?" he said gently, running a long finger down his cheek next to the cut. Draco paused and looked at up at him through his eyelashes, before sitting down on the rock Blaise had just vacated. Blaise sat down next to him, "talk to me" he said quietly and he slowly took Draco's hand in his, watching him to make sure it was okay. Draco gave him a small grateful smile and leaned his head onto his shoulder, closing his eyes. _

_Blaise was still thoroughly surprised at Draco's behaviour – they had never been so close with each other, and he was still shocked somewhat from the brief kiss. Blaise nudged him slightly and he began to talk, he talked about his father, and in a way Blaise had known all along that all Draco's problems were rooted with Lucius. Draco told Blaise that his father didn't like the amount of time that they spent together and that he had sorely objected when his father had informed him of the arranged marriage of him to Pansy Parkinson. It wasn't that he didn't like Pansy, they were good friends after all, but Draco had no intentions of marrying for his father's convenience, the Parkinson's were well connected and as rich as they were. Blaise listened to his friends' problems and worries, feeling helpless as he could offer no advice or consolation._

*end flashback*

But from that moment, from that very first kiss, they had developed a special bond, a bond that had grown over time and that now was exceptionally strong. They were not just simply 'good friends'.


	7. Champion Selection

Heading down to the great hall he paused by the Entrance Hall and watched as all the Durmstrang students submitted their names into the Goblet. He gave his charming smile to a couple of the girls who looked his way and then proceeded into the Great Hall sliding into a chair beside Anton. The seventh year kissed him chastely on the cheek and enquired after the Greengrass girls whom, Blaise assured him, had slept soundly.

The Hall was busier than it normally was, several people milling around with pieces of toast, watching people drop their names into the fyre. He heard snatches of conversation as he sat at his table, not thinking about anything in particular,

"...has to be Cedric" Hannah Abbott was saying intently to Susan Bones, "did you see him duel Nathan in the common room last week? He's amazing!" Blaise sorely doubted this, betting he could take the Hufflepuff with his hands tied behind his back, but he didn't voice this opinion and focused his attentions on Cho Chang and her curly haired friend Marietta, "...can't tell anyone" Chang whispered in hushed tones,

"I don't even know why I did it..." the conversation trailed off, and Blaise assumed she was referring to her 'sordid' affair with Sebastian. By the time he'd listened in to various peoples conversations many more of his house had wandered down to breakfast and he smiled as a sleepy Adrianne sat down in his lap, brushing sleepy dust from her eyes and grabbing a piece of toast from his plate. He smirked down at her and reached for the jam, to spread it more liberally on to his remaining toast. As they sat their quietly they heard a small bang from the entrance hall, and turned around to see to Weasley twins in a heap of the floor with long identical white beards, the Goblet spitting gold sparks furiously. Adrianne rolled her eyes at their being so simple minded and naive and they turned back to their toast.

Blaise wondered how two sixteen year olds thought they could trick the Fyre and indeed Dumbledore into believing they were old enough, he truly hoped they weren't stupid enough to have tried an ageing potion. Standing up with Adrianne they meandered out of the Hall and arrived in the entrance just as the Beaxbatons students dropped their names into the Goblet. His eyes lingered for a while on a girl who looked like a half veela and he watched as her thin frame danced out of the hall and into the grounds, he hair streaming out behind her and catching the light.

"I'll see you later," he said abandoning Adrianne in the hall and following the girls retreating back into the grounds. He followed as she practically floated to the lake and sat under a tree by herself, retrieving a book from her bag. He advanced towards her and stood next to the tree, "Mind if I join you?" he spoke fluently to her in their native tongue, she looked up and smiled a hundred watt smile at him, her eyes drinking him in, "not at all" she replied smoothly, "feel free". "Missing home?" he asked her quietly, indicating the French culture book she had on her lap, "only a little," she replied carefully, "its quite exciting to be here and mixing with all of you, and most of the people I have talked to have spoken my language." Blaise smiled, knowing she would be referring to people in his house, or maybe a few well educated Ravenclaws.

"You included" she said smiling at him again, "I aim to please," Blaise smiled back and looked at her from under his eyelashes, a favourite trick of Draco's. "What's your name sweetheart?" he asked her, running his fingers over the back of her knuckles, "Fleur Delacour" she replied, shivering slightly at his touch, "et toi?" she asked in return, he smiled, how appropriate he though her name was, "it suits you very well" he said smoothly, "et Blaise," he answered her question, "Blaise Zabini." As they conversed under the large tree, he examined her perfect face; her large, sky blue, almond shaped eyes, her profound cheekbones, her smooth, flawless skin and her dusty pink heart shaped lips. She inched closer to him as they moved the conversation to family, and he wondered whether to play the 'broken home' card to achieve her sympathies.

"Tell me about your parents" she said softly, "Describe them to me," he decided against it. "I live with my mother," he intoned quickly, "we live in the south of France, just off the coast in Zabini Manor and I have no siblings." She smiled encouragingly and so he continued, "I get on well enough with my mother," he said lying through his teeth, "I share her interest in trying new cuisine". Fleur smiled at him then looked at her watch, "Goodness!" she exclaimed as she realised the time, "I need to go and find my school, I must arrive at lunch with them." Blaise nodded and stood, offering her his hand, which she obligingly took and he pulled her up. He was taller than her, though not by much and she kissed him on the cheek as they drew apart. From across the lawns she turned evasively and gave him a smouldering glance, before spinning back round and moving away and advanced to the large blue carriage.

Blaise did not go to the Great Hall for lunch; instead he wandered back to the common room. Upon his entering he saw Theo sat by himself on the couch nearest the fire, pouring over a book, so he approached him quietly and sat down. Anyone who knew Theo at all knew not to disturb him whilst he was reading, some of the Slytherins often jokingly referred to him as 'The Slytherin Granger', which amused Blaise greatly, but not so much Theodore. He noticed Blaise and glanced up,

"hey" he said briefly, "how come you're not at lunch with the others?" Blaise shrugged, not entirely sure why he had skipped out on food, "just didn't fancy it," he said finally and plucked the book out of Theo's hands to read the front cover, "Astronomy Uncovered" he read aloud rolling his eyes, "by Pamela Minett ... sounds riveting" Theo thumped Blaise and took his book back, "I'm not asking you to read it" he said simply, "why don't you go annoy someone else?"

"Excellent suggestion!" Blaise said jovially and his eyes scanned the room quickly. He spotted third year Genevieve Mason sat in a corner staring at the wall and he bounced cheerfully over to her, "Jenny darling" he said jauntily, "how've you been?" she fixed him with a hard stare, "don't call me 'Jenny darling'" she said monotonously, then she grinned at him, "not so bad" she said, "and yourself?" he returned her smile, "fine, just fine" he replied, then – "bored sweetheart?" he questioned, "only you seem to have been sat staring at a wall for a while, by yourself" he finished with a condescending tone and she rolled her eyes and said, "yeah, maybe a little, everyone else went to lunch, but I didn't fancy it." "Anything you do fancy doing" he said suggestively, walking his fingers up her leg. He'd had Genevieve before, actually he was fairly confident he'd been her first, and she hadn't been half bad considering.

"Nah, sorry babe" she said brushing of his hand, "I'm with someone." Blaise sighed dramatically, "who?" he said sounding exasperated, she grinned and said, "Danny Gregorovitch, he's meeting me here soon" Blaise stepped back sharply and glanced around, Anton's brother, a fifth year and notorious for jealousy. He'd been in plenty of duels with guys when he had suspicions of them being after his girl. A voice sounded from behind Blaise,

"Gen, hun, you ready?" Danny had appeared and came closer slipping an arm around Genevieve, he looked at Blaise and smiled, "how you doing Zabini?" he asked, "just keeping Gen company were you?" Blaise smiled easily at Danny, "Good thanks, Gregorovitch, and yeah, she was just asking me whether you thought her hair would look nice," he said smoothly, not missing a beat, "to which I replied she looked fine, and anyway, you wouldn't mind if she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards." Danny smiled looking pleased with himself, "yeah course," he said, then – "we'll be off then, come on Gen," he lead her out of the common room and Blaise shook his head smiling to himself. "I saw that" said Theo coming up behind Blaise, he, shaking his head at him. Blaise grinned impishly and shrugged, "I was bored" he said simply, "and she's hot" Theo supplied helpfully, looking at him. "Well, yeah" said Blaise grinning again, "that too."

They went back over to the sofa and talked briefly until the others started to drift back in from lunch. Nicolette came in with the girl he didn't know the first name of and wandered over to him, "hey sweetheart" he said cheerfully, "who's your friend?" she sat in his lap and smiled, "this is Jade Donovan" she said equally as cheerfully, "not really seen you today..." she trailed off and Blaise hugged her, "I know, yeah, I guess I've been busy." Theodore gave a scathing cough and Blaise smiled politely and stepped on his foot, hard. Nicolette smiled adoringly at Blaise, blissfully unaware and Blaise kissed the top of her head and she nestled into him.

"Wakey wakey sleepy head!" A familiar voice shouted all too familiar words at him and Blaise jolted awake. Nicolette was still curled up on him, but now with her eyes open, squinting slightly and Draco stood above them, wearing a satisfied smirk and looking quite pleased with himself. Blaise reached out to kick Draco in the shins, but he stepped back, his grin broadening and looking even more pleased.

"The feast's about to start" Draco announced to them both, "everyone else has gone, but I volunteered to be the one to gently wake you two from your slumber. Aren't I kind?" Draco beamed at them and Blaise shook the sleep off him and stood up, taking Nicolette with him. He took Nicky's hand and Draco took her other and they exited the common room together, walking down to the Great Hall. They slid into an available niche in the bench and Blaise gave Anton, beside him, a small smile. As Nicolette squirmed beside him, Blaise looked around the hall to see many other people getting inpatient and craning their necks to see whether Dumbledore had finished eating. When at long last he had he got to his feet, the hall was silenced almost immediately and everyone gazed expectantly at him some of the other teachers and judges looking tense and slightly uncomfortable.

"Well the goblet is almost ready to make its decision," said Dumbledore, "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the top of the hall, walk along the staff table and go through into the next chamber' - he indicated the door behind the staff table –'where they will be receiving their first instructions." With a wave of his wand all the usual candles went out, leaving only those in the pumpkin decorations still lit. The fyre in the Goblet was now so bright it almost hurt to look at it, but everyone stayed firmly fixed on it, watching and waiting. The flames turned suddenly red and sparks flew from it, Blaise glanced down slightly as he heard Nicolette's sharp intake of breath as a tongue of flame shot in the air and a piece of charred parchment floated down. The flames turned back to their natural blue-white colour and Dumbledore held the parchment by it to read it,

"The champion for Durmstrang" he read in a strong, clear voice, "Will be Victor Krum." The hall cheered and clapped loudly for him as he got up from their table and slouched towards the top table, Blaise could hear Karkaroff loudly congratulating his student even over all the noise. When the cheers had dies down, everyone focused again on the Goblet, and it wasn't long before the flames glowed red again and another piece of parchment was shot into the air. Dumbledore caught it expertly and read,

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" as cheers erupted, Blaise smiled to himself at is newfound friends retreating back, ne felt a small nudge in his side and Anton pointed at the Ravenclaw table at the openly sobbing girls who hadn't been chosen, "reckon they'll need a bit of consoling afterwards." He said with a small wink and Blaise smirked back at him and craned his neck slightly to get a better view of the upset Beauxbatons students. "I want the pouty brunette." Blaise said slyly to Anton, "that's fine by me, mate" he replied, "You know I prefer blondes anyway."

Blaise grinned slightly as he remembered the moment when he'd walked in on Anton and Draco, in quite a compromising position, to discover that Anton did indeed prefer Blondes. They turned back to the Goblet just as the third piece of parchment shot out of the Goblet to reveal Hogwarts champion. "The Hogwarts champion" Dumbledore called, "Is Cedric Diggory!" Blaise raised his eyebrows sceptically as the entire Hufflepuff table jumped to their feet stamping and screaming for their champion. "Well," said Draco, leaning around Nicolette, "I think I'll be cheering for Krum." Blaise half smiled at Draco, and then winked, "I think I'm rooting for Fleur" he said coyly. Draco smirked at him, "I saw you with her the other day." He said suggestively, "Any chance of" – but he was cut off as the Goblet glowed for a fourth time and another piece of parchment floated down. Almost automatically it seemed Dumbledore reached and caught it and there was a deadly silence before he cleared his throat and read out, "Harry Potter." Blaise could hear people muttering all around him, but as of yet Potter hadn't moved and he stretched to look over peoples heads and see where Potter sat unmoving.

"Harry Potter". Dumbledore called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!" he saw the mudblood give Potter a slight push and he stood up and began the slow walk up to the table. Blaise watched as the Hufflepuffs glared daggers at him, but other people just looked shocked and confused. "So, how do you reckon Potters managed that one" Seb leaned across to talk just as Potter disappeared into the side chamber. The table joined in to talk animatedly about the hot new topic, but Blaise thought. Potter. He thought, Potter was not an exceptionally gifted wizard; his magic wasn't that special, hell, even he, Blaise, had more chance of getting his name in by himself than potter would have done. "I don't think he entered himself." Blaise said slowly, and the table turned to look at him, "Let's be realistic," he continued, "Potter isn't that clever, and it takes a lot of powerful magic to trick that Goblet." It let this sink in and saw Theo nodding at him from across the table, "you're probably right," he said, "I mean, Potters only our age, what chance could he have with the Fyre?" "Yeah, I agree," Pansy joined in the conversation, "If we don't know how to trick the Goblet, then Potter definitely doesn't." "Yeah" Draco said, "even if he had help from the mudblood, our magic is certainly superior to theirs." There were murmurings of agreement around the table and then Christina stood up, "I think if we're going to continue this discussion we should go back to the dorm" she said, "just in case."

More people nodded and the majority off their table stood up to walk back to the dorms. Blaise gave a half smile as he recognised Nicolette's small fingers clasp his own, running her thumb over the back of his knuckles. He brushed her hair off her forehead and they advanced to the common room together. Settling in their usual squashy chair by the fire she said nothing as she leaned back into him and Blaise knew she'd be asleep in moments. Anton and another seventh year, named Damon Rowle sat on the sofa opposite him, still in deep conversation about the recent turn of events. Blaise half listened and then was suddenly forced to join in as he was addressed,

"you're in Potters classes, aren't you Blaise?" Blaise inclined his head slightly "quite a few of them yes, I see him in Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow." "No, that's not why I was asking" Damon intoned, "We were just continuing to doubt Potters magical skill and therefore his ability to have got his name into the Goblet." "Ah" Blaise caught on, "this is what we were discussing at the table, it's impossible for Potter to have entered himself, some of our second years have more power than he does." Anton leaned back satisfied, "That's what I thought" he said smugly, then – "so, the question is, how did his name end up in that Goblet?" Sebastian and Janette sat on one of the other sofas joining in the conversation, "We think it's unlikely that another student put it in for him," Seb said animated, "One, would that even work? Would the Goblet recognise the trick? And two, the personal risk, in case it backfired or a teacher found out." "Very true" Christina's voice joined the conversation as she and Carter sat down in front of the fire, "So that leaves very few options." The circle nodded, "The most likely" Blaise continue, "is it's someone who wants to hurt Potter." "Which," said Damon, "Isn't a problem in itself, but it's who's done it that's the issue." "Do you think this and the content of Daphne's letter are connected?" a new voice joined the group. Blaise glanced up and saw 6th year Dallas Macnair, settling next to Janette,

"That's actually a very interesting idea," Anton said approvingly, and Dallas smirked, "If interesting is the right word." "yeah, its a bit odd, that the second we get a letter announcing the Dark Lords revival, Potter is entered in the one of the most dangerous competitions ever." Christina said, "An extremely unlikely coincidence." "So who do we think actually put his name in?" said a voice, and Blaise turned again, not realising Draco had joined the circle. "Its not like the place is crawling with deatheaters." "It's also unlikely that he was entered from someone outside." Janette said cautiously and Seb nodded, encouraging her, "The walls of Hogwarts are too strongly protected for someone to have entered and left without detection." "Also a fair point" said Anton objectively, "Which means its someone we know," said Blaise, "Someone from inside the castle has magic strong enough to get Potters name in there - which isn't a very uncomfortable thought." Everyone in the group nodded, "This doesn't sit well." Said Christina, "Someone here is dangerous and in league with him." There was an uneasy silence around the circle until Anton stood up, "Well," he said, somewhat finally, "We can weigh up the possibilities tomorrow, but for now, I think everyone should go to bed."

He glanced pointedly at Blaise who realised Nicolette was asleep on his chest. He smiled at her fondly as the circle disbanded, wishing each other good night and heading to their respective dormitories. Blaise carefully picked up Nicolette and carried her into the first year girl's dorm. He went in and found Jade already in Nicky's bed, and with a smile he tucked them both up together and kissed their foreheads. He smiled down at their angelic forms and then headed back through the common room to his own dorm. He saw Anton still there, stood and gazing into the fire, Blaise went over and put an arm around his waist leaning his head on the taller boys shoulder. Anton half smiled at Blaise, slipping his arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer.

"It's gone wrong so quickly Blaise," he said forlornly, "and it's going to get alot worse." He sighed and Blaise was sure he saw his eyes glistening. Anton gripped Blaise tighter and spun him round to face him, "we're going to have to be even more careful this year," he said, "everyone must be accounted for at all times and believe you me, the Greengrasses are only the first to suffer." Blaise nodded as Anton pressed his lips to his, the kiss was desperate and fierce and Blaise welcomed it. He opened his mouth slightly and Anton forced his tongue inside and they began the fight for dominance. He shoved Blaise up against the wall and ravished his mouth. Anton won in the end and Blaise had no idea how long he stood against the wall, Anton pressing against him. He suddenly pulled away and lay on the sofa, holding his arms open to Blaise, he went to him straight away and they continued to kiss. Blaise felt Anton's slender fingers glide up his shirt and caress his toned chest. The kiss was broken briefly as Blaise pulled Anton's sweater over his head, but their lips were soon locked as they each unbuttoned the others shirt, leaving them half torn on the floor. As Anton started on Blaise's belt buckle they heard a small gasp behind them,

"Oh!" and opening one eye Blaise saw Nicolette staring at them, with tears sliding down her face. He sat bolt upright pulling Anton with him, who only just registered the first year. "What is it baby girl" Blaise asked, half exasperated, half deathly concerned for his weeping child. "No," she said turning slightly, "No, you're er... busy." Blaise smirked at Anton slightly, but his concern for his girl beat his lust. Anton sat up fully and looked at the little girl stood before him, tears pouring down her face and he thought what he said to Blaise earlier this evening, "It's alright sweetheart," he said, "come here, I don't bite, promise." Blaise felt he could argue this point quite strongly, considering the incriminating evidence he had on his neck, bur felt this would certainly not encourage Nicky, so he merely smiled and beckoned her over. She came willingly enough and then paused before sitting in Blaise's lap, she wrapped her little arms around his neck and sobbed onto his shoulder. Anton sighed and rubbed her back reassuringly, before kissing Blaise's cheek and standing up,

"I'll see you both tomorrow." He said quietly exiting the room, leaving Blaise with his crying child. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, baby?" he said softly "or shall I have a guess?" Nicolette shrugged slightly, "nightmare" she said in her tiny voice, "and you told me to come to you if I had one!" "Nicky, Nicky!" he stroked her cheek, "You don't need to try and justify yourself." He hugged her small frame and her shoulders drooped as she relaxed, "Do you want to tell me what it was about?" He said gently, she looked at him through her long, wet eyelashes and opened her mouth. "I don't really like my house," she said delicately, "or rather, I don't like the people who live in my house." She closed her eyes for a second as though she expected him to rebuke her, when he did not she carried on, "well, I suppose mother can be alright, she doesn't hurt me like he does, but neither does she stop him." When she said those words Blaise realised he had been right and he clutched her more tightly to him, "he tells me he loves me," said Nicolette, "but if he truly did then I wouldn't have had to learn glamour charms." Blaise cringed inwardly as he thought of someone hurting the dainty little gem that he held so dearly. "Not anymore" said Blaise, "he won't hurt you anymore." He stood up wrapping the tiny girl into his arms and turned down the stairs to his dorm room. She said nothing as he slipped on some pyjama bottoms and tucked her up next to him in bed. She said nothing as he pulled her closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. And she said nothing as she relaxed into him and closed her eyes.


	8. How Slytherins Pass The Time

Blaise opened his eyes as he felt something wriggling around next to him. He smiled as he recognized it to be Nicolette and he recalled the events of the previous night. He was glad that she had finally confided in him, but he wandered how long it would take for him to draw her out of her shell. He had his usual shower and then headed down to the great hall for breakfast, leaving Nicolette asleep. Her saw Pansy and Carter seated down the far end of the table, so he headed down to them and sat down.

"Sleep well?" Pansy asked, concerned, "As well as ever," he replied sleepily, "had Nicky with me when I finally came up." Pansy nodded, not prying and turned back to Carter, "we were just discussing the tournament," she said, "We're supporting Krum." Carter nodded to Blaise at her words and he smirked, "I think I might back Fleur" he said coyly, "got to know her pretty well the other day." "Shocker" said Pansy with a smirk not even turning to look at him. "Blaise darling" said a voice behind him, placing her hand on his thigh as she slid into a seat on the bench next to him. "Genevieve" he said, eyes narrowing as Danny sat down next to her, she could be a tease when she wanted to. "How are things with you?" "Pretty damn good," she said with a smirk as Danny slipped an arm around her, "we're doing just fine."

Her eyes flashed with something Blaise couldn't put his finger on, but then he was distracted as the hall doors opened again and Draco came in leading Nicolette by the hand. She didn't notice Blaise as she chatted animatedly with Draco and they sat further down the bench next to Christina and Derrick. Blaise quirked an eyebrow but smiled at her settling in and decided to leave them to it. He smiled again as he watched a small second year sat across the bench leaning across the table in an attempt to reach the jam,

"there you go sweetheart" he said pushing it closer to her with a grin, she smirked back but didn't comment. He knew little Rhianne Dolohov quite well, having not only socialised with her at balls and other formal occasions, but she was also stunningly beautiful and so was a favourite of his mothers. So they often dined with the Dolohovs and Blaise got the impression she was almost as bored as he was at these dinner parties. "your mother owled me actually," she said, "asking me to tell you to reply to her letters and also that she wants you to bring friends home this Christmas."

Blaise smiled sardonically knowing his mother desired neither his letters nor the presence of him and his friends, this was merely one of her attempts to prove to people what a good mother she was. But Blaise said none of this to Rhianne, merely nodding and replying, "I'll get around to it sooner or later." She smiled and turned away leaving Blaise to his thoughts, he also knew that there was no way he'd be going home this Christmas, for it was tradition during the tournament to host the Yule Ball and Blaise would definitely be attending.

"Hey hun" said a voice, and Daphne slid into his lap, kissing him on the cheek. "Hello gorgeous" he replied lightly, "I hoped you slept well" she shrugged and sighed leaning back into his chest, "I've had better nights." Blaise understood, and he too sighed and swept her hair off her forehead, "are you eating anything love?" he asked, "because if not we might as well be on our way to transfiguration." Daphne's nose scrunched and then she shook her head, "Nah, I'll give breakfast a miss, not especially hungry." So they stood and hand in hand wandered off to class. They shared this lesson with the Ravenclaws, whom the Slytherins were not desperately opposed to, Blaise actually got on with a few of them fairly well.

"Riley," Blaise addressed the boy stood outside the room and his friend James Riley spun to face them. "Hey Blaise," he smiled, "Greengrass," he nodded in Daphne's direction, "What do you all think of it then, Potter and the tournament and all?" "Hot topic at the moment," said Blaise, "I think we spent most of last night discussing it." James inclined his head as Daphne joined in, "We don't think there's any way Potter entered himself," James nodded, "that's just what I said this morning, it's quite impossible." The conversation died down as others arrived and they headed into the classroom. Blaise sat in between Daphne and Adrianne and leaned back on two legs of his chair, waiting for the Professor. She arrived flustered and unorganized, not at all her usual persona,

"Theory today." She said bluntly and books were passed quickly along the rows of desks. Blaise sighed, not at all in the mood to be reading and decided to play a little game instead. He flung an arm around the back of Adrianne's chair and she looked up, her eyebrows quirked. "Yes." She said in a whisper, looking at him expectantly, "may I help you?" Blaise grinned at her and shrugged and she turned back to her book, Blaise's copy lay unopened on the table. He fell forwards dropping his chair onto all fours with a bang and Professor McGonagall jumped a little and looked up sharply,

"Quietly, Mr Zabini, quietly." Blaise nodded and gave her his most charming smile, "of course, Professor." He opened his book and pretended to be diligently reading. He slipped an arm under the desk and reached out to stroke Adrianne's thigh, he eyes fixed on the page he was supposed to be reading. She quivered slightly at his touch and he saw her glance at him out of the corner of his eye. She turned back to her book and Blaise moved his hand higher, teasing the hem of her skirt. She flashed him another look, but he could see her lips toying with a smile. He moved his fingers right up to her panties and ran his fingers teasingly across them. She squirmed beside him and exhaled sharply, Draco 'tsked' behind them and Blaise turned his head and winked at him. Blaise continued to tease Adrianne throughout the lesson, shooting occasional glances at the oblivious Professor. He felt the hard little nub of flesh through the material and flicked it harshly, well timed too, as the bell drowned Adrianne's slight scream. Withdrawing his hand from under the desk he slung his and Adrianne's bags over his shoulder and smirked at her. She gave him a slight scowl before taking his hand and they lead the group down to Care of Magical Creatures.

"Enjoy today's lesson Anna dearest?" Draco said loudly to the group and she turned giving him a disparaging look and the group tittered as Blaise flicked out his tongue and winked, they all knew Blaise's little games and how he like to wile away lesson time playing them with whoever happened to be sat next to him. "Well," said Seb, "this'll be the first time we see the champion, do you think he'll have a picture with me?" the group laughed and Theo tripped over a rock, his attention elsewhere. They laughed even more and Blaise steadied him, suggesting they get him a walking stick for Christmas. They drew closer to the cabin with their smirks settles in place as they spotted Potter;

"Ah look, it's the Champion" Draco said loudly to everyone within earshot, "got your autograph books? Better get a signature now, because I doubt he's going to be around much longer." "Half the Triwizard champions have died" Blaise joined in, "how long d'you reckon you're going to last Potter?" "Ten minutes into the first task's my bet." Said Draco and the other Slytherins laughed with them. However their frivolity was cut short as the half giant appeared and announced that the skrewts had been killing each other. He then proceeded to explain that the skrewts had a lot of pent up energy and that the class must take the beasts for short walks around the paddock. "take this thing for a walk?" said Draco with disgust, "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blasting end or the sucker?" "Roun' the middle,' said the oaf demonstrating. "Er – yeh might want ter put on yer dragon-hide gloves, jus' as an extra precaution, like..." his voice trailed off as he beckoned potter over and they conversed in dull tones. Draco exchanged disparaging looks with the other Slytherins and, as a whole, they refused to touch the skrewts, or as Theo described them 'dangerous, illegal cross breeds'.

Moving into the afternoon the Slytherins separated to do their chosen options, some doing Divination, some doing ancient runes and some doing Arithmancy. None of the Slytherins had chosen Muggle studies. Blaise had chosen the more academic option of Arithmancy and departed to the lesson with Sebastian, Theodore and Pansy. Casually slinging an arm around Pansy's waist they entered the classroom a few minutes early and realised that unfortunately this was the same option Granger had chosen, she was already seated in the classroom, at a desk near the front by herself. Blaise abandoned his friends and waltzed to the front of the room.

"Granger," he intoned jovially, "I'm jolly glad we chose the same option, aren't you?" she gave him a scornful look and turned away from him, he 'tsked' loudly and continued to talk to her, "I say, I do hope I get to enjoy your presence in Astronomy as well." She turned back to look at him and Blaise recognised the gleam in her eyes. "What a wit you are Zabini," she said sarcastically turning fully away from him and opening her textbook. Blaise was about to reply when the Professor walked in, so he turned back along the aisle and sat down next to Seb, behind Theo and Pansy. The lesson dragged somewhat and Blaise was thoroughly relieved when the Bell clanged and they could retreat to their respective common rooms.

Blaise collapsed into his favourite armchair and checked his watch; he had three hours till dinner time. He watched as Draco entered the common room and sat opposite him, tipping out a pile of badges onto the table.

"What on earth are you doing?" he said, eyebrows quirked, Draco looked up and grinned, "making badges." He replied simply. Blaise rolled his eyes and turned as Daphne, Millie, and Greg came in and also sat down. "How's Astoria?" Blaise asked Daphne gently, and she sighed and shrugged, "not really sure, she's been a bit distant." Blaise nodded, "we should probably make a bit more of an effort with her," he voiced his thoughts, "with all the first years to be honest, I don't even know half their names." As if on cue, the door swung open and Astoria entered, along with two other first years, "So what are their names?" Blaise asked quietly, and it was Millie who answered,

"Nate Carrow and Jonah Houghton" Blaise nodded and Draco beckoned them over, "come here sweetheart" he said to Astoria, and she walked delicately over to him. "You'd like a badge, wouldn't you darling?" he said persuasively and she nodded and accepted a badge. Blaise picked one up and read aloud, "Support Cedric Diggory the REAL Hogwarts Champion." His lip curled and he attached one to the front of his robes, "Press it." Said Draco, "see what it does," Blaise raised his eyebrows again, but pressed the badge; it tuned green and flashed "Potter Stinks" across the room. Most of the room laughed, and while Blaise found it somewhat childish, he couldn't help but admire the skill in the charm, and congratulated Draco.

"I insist everyone must wear one to dinner" said Draco, still quite proud of his handiwork, and people nodded and handed out badges, so that when they headed down to the great hall, every Slytherin was the proud owner of a 'Support Cedric' badge. They simultaneously pressed them as they walked past the Gryffindor table, amid hisses and cheers from the rest of the hall. Blaise slid into the bench next to a fifth year named Shale Rosier, "Dearest one," he said taking his seat, "I feel I've hardly seen you this year." "Indeed," Shale replied callously, "I suppose things have been a bit dramatic, there just hasn't been the time." Blaise nodded his agreement and the two caught up any news they had to share. As they were leaving the hall to retire to the common room for the evening he caught Fleurs eye from across the hall and he winked. She winked back and blew him a kiss and he grinned before turning away and walking to the dungeons with Shale and Draco.


End file.
